Possibilities and limitations of non-invasive techniques for the study of left ventricular function in chronic pulmonary disease.

The authors examined systolic time intervals, apexcardiograms and left ventricular echocardiograms in 151 patients with chronic disease of the airways. Their study showed that unlike apexcardiograms and echocardiograms, which can be performed in 33.8% and 56.7% of patients respectively, systolic time intervals can be assessed in 90.1% of patients. Pathological values of left ventricular function parameters were a comparatively common finding: 49.2% in systolic time intervals, 35.1% in apexcardiograms and 23.5 % in echocardiograms. There was no relation between the parameters of pulmonary function and those of left ventricular function. The authors hold that non-invasive examination of the left ventricular function in pulmonary disease is most valuable in long-term follow-up studies of the changes of the above parameters.